Ruse, Aug. 14, 2025 — The bridge over the Danube is jammed. Headlights stretch in a crooked line toward the Bulgarian checkpoint, trucks idling in the morning haze. Drivers stand beside their cabs, arms folded, smoking or sipping from plastic mugs.
Inside one trailer, the sweet smell of ripe peaches mixes with the scent of diesel. Two rigs back, a load of onions sits under a loose tarp. Every hour the sun climbs, the cargo gets riskier. “We’ll move when they say we move,” a driver says, shrugging.
It’s peak harvest season, and the push to get fresh produce into Central Europe is straining the border post. Extra customs staff have been sent, but each inspection still takes minutes too long. On days like this, those minutes add up.
Past noon, the line inches forward. Engines start in bursts, then cut again. In the heat, the river glitters between the bridge girders, and the long convoy waits for its turn to cross.
